3 Thoughts on Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

1. The Franchise - You guys, you know what I realized recently? I don't think I've ever seen Ghostbusters 2!! It was on tv, and the part I saw did not seem familiar at all. It makes sense because I never really held the Ghostbusters movies as, like, a childhood memory - I don't even think I saw the first one as a child. I'm pretty sure I was an adult (although I'm sure I saw scenes because I knew who all the characters were...maybe I did see it as a kid, I don't know). I think that's really rare for a child in the 80s, but it just wasn't my thing. And I've never really liked Bill Murray (sorry, EVERYONE, he seems like an asshole. A miserable asshole. I don't find him funny at all). I think the 2016 "all female" one was pretty pointless and stupid (but will be burned in my memory for Chris Hemsworth's lensless glasses. It's too funny). But, I actually really liked Afterlife. It definitely surprised me, and I thought the cast had such great chemistry together. I was excited for the franchise to continue. I thought it was super cool that it reinvigorated an almost 40 year old franchise. Unfortunately, this one feels like it killed any remaining excitement. It's not terrible, but just very average. I came away from the theater feeling disappointed, and the more I thought about it, the more I dislike it. 

2. Ghost Girl and Company - The two biggest mistakes this entry makes is (1) trying to cram a million and one characters into a two hour movie. Please take a second to just look at how insane that poster is (it's Marvel-level insane) - and the even weirder part is that one of the major side characters (Melody aka Ghost Girl) isn't even featured on it. AND McKenna Grace is...the STAR of the movie so she should be bigger. Like, the main family should be equally sized and centered and then everyone else should be small or eliminated all together, and that's true for the movie too. Carrie Coon is completely sidelined (it almost feels like she didn't even want to be in this?). I probably could have done without the original cast altogether (maybe a cameo here and there, but they several old cast members who had whole scenes!). And I don't even remember any of the side characters from Afterlife, so it's weird to bring them into this setting as if they were beloved characters. I think the only two important other characters (aside from the family) are Melody and Kumail Nanjiani's character (who also provided some much needed comic relief - never quite laugh out loud funny, but amusing nonetheless). It's obvious from her introduction that Melody is going to be important in the end. I would have liked her story more if they actually went for the story they hint at - as in - just let Phoebe be gay. It's extremely implied that there is more than a platonic connection with Melody - but it's never explicitly stated. It's such a cop out, and extremely irritating. Which brings me to (2) why did they make Phoebe the most annoying teenage girl on the planet? She was so funny and interesting in the first movie, but here she is UNBEARABLE. The whole plot with her being sidelined because she's too young is SO DUMB. But her attitude about it is even dumber. I wanted her dumb dad jokes, her quirky fun-facts, and her adorable winks! It's WHO SHE IS! 

3. The Rest - Overall, this is just...not a good movie. It's boring, badly paced, over-stuffed, and non-sensical. Like, why would they deem ghostbusting as too dangerous for a teenager, but her walking into an empty park in NYC in THE DARK *screams* BY HERSELF is somehow okay??? I wouldn't even walk into an empty park in the dark in NYC by myself and I'm 42. There is some good stuff - the effects are done really well, especially the scene in which Patience and Fortitude come to life. And the frozen stuff is done really well - I like how it's genuinely scary with the ice spikes tearing up through the ground. If it were funnier, I probably could forgive a lot of the faults, but I laughed a total of ONE time in its two hour runtime (when he tells the library researcher "he's already dead" as a joke - perfect comedic delivery). BUT, my husband liked it - and he's a big fan of the franchise. He, like me, loved Afterlife, so he actually insisted we see this in the theater (a true rarity!), and he left happy, so what do I know?